Safety-cover for gondola cars.



C. M. GEIGE-R.

SAFETY COVER FOR GONDOLA CARS.

APPLICATION HLED MAYH, 191.6.

1, 52,259, Patented Jan. 1,1918;

. I 2 SHEETSSHEET I- .re 22 29 i 2 5 J 46 ATTORNEY C. M. GEIGER.

SAFETY COVER FOR GONDOLA CARS.

AEPLICATiON FILED MAYH. 1916.

1,252,259, Patented Jan. 1,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTOR N EY UNITED s'm'rnsf rf nm cnnien.

Garments Marimba-"011 nines, I snqnmA g-nssiixtowon i QN'E HA LF T0" THOMAS A: A IiBBITT'ONj*OFBEEfiIDGE? FIE'ORIDAE snnnhmcoxfimenon GbNDGLA CABS:

Siicification of LettersQ-acent.

Patented-Ja n.- 1 1918.:

Applicaticn filed me-17; 1916. siiai 116,. 98,1?4;

yaz zm qmiticaneem:

Be it"lmownithatil; (Densities Mt" Ghent,

a;- citizen fthe -"Unitd? States; residing at Bee-Ridge; in the cufity}. orfManateei: and

tain new an'd'usefiil 'imp'revme tsj in safety coversv fer, g ndOIa 'cars and other opTentcp railway rolling; stock and as fitsv primary object; contemplates the i prbvi'sicii pf 'a not/e1 device of this natfire that 'isfradily. attach;- able. and: detachable to and fibinfthecar'and,

which 'whenin place will. permitjof'the lead; il lg orv unloading, ofthe car in themual manner.

A further object" of my? iiifv'enti'qn is m provide a device of the typej'in u estmn' that isextremely? simplein constfueuen', strdng ser and: dnrable, and highly-practical 'frOinjbot h the stand xoint 'of the manufactnr'e'r and the standppi'ntfotthe'user and which; it "is be he ved; may, be manufactured at comparatively low cost.'

Various other objects andadyantages will becom e appgirent during the continuance 'of the following description.

These objects. are, accomplished by j 'sl lfch means. as, are shbwn in'theirpreferfed ,fofm:

the, fellciwinggspecification and then more specifically; pointed 011i in the appended claims In the accompanying drawihgswherin" like characters designate like parts thrngh out' thezseveral views:

Figure 1 "is a iew iflsidefefevation' ofa' Figa 5fiS a View shcwingan improved form; ofconnectihgj oint that is used .n

Fig. 6 is a--view of another form of connectingiioint that is employed Fig. 7 is a fragmentaryview of the carry;

ingTframejshdwingl means t'ol cck' the. same in. cbnife 3in With the" respective car? bodyw i a s Figf S'fisa viefisiinii ai?"toffFig'. 'q' "showing; mdre' clearly-the meansfor locking the diver in position:

In the drawings A designates a car body; of "sutstannany thfe onvntibntl' form;- in @onn'eetion with Wifi h my pres ent invention 1 is shown lvrjrimxemiehis TeadiiyappLicabIetO other;

form's"affair-"beans; and different tyiies of railway?rdliing'fstccki such will be, apatent, frgihijthefllwingl 7 I v Ilf'reducjingfiny i ention to'j practice, first prdyide a carry grime-10; of a. du rable JnetaLfWhiCh-iis 'p'refe ribly of a diffnn siOn' whereby it, willifitfsnugly "about the upper (fiftiqnbfthe caribdy, such as 'shOv'v'n in'igl 1, andfwhen in 'p1ace,i-rest's 'u pOn a sofj equidistant supporting studs 11. The ends Crete ffzifne'TO are "provided with a pair, of substantially "vertical reds "or "stand ards l2"(-se "ig: 2) eachof "which carries a jcintf ci can ne-egos 114, one of "which joints is separately illli's'trated in Fig. 5;

Esau-"joint'lyi ehiaes"downwardl Slant: ing'ggeei 's 15,? for connecti'dn- With oppb sitelypijeting" end was IG'andIZtha-t are cnhc'ted'at their "loyi 'eif' ends to "the side, pb1ti6ns'1t1f'the flame 10,i'n"'a stiitablenian nee and'each ji'nt '14 lis'fal'sof providectwith an npiiiardiyi'"directed" sleBIveflS fer, "accom mbdat'ing the "lower" "end "of a seciiri'iig ro d' l9. Intermediate its ends, the securing red 19 above referred to is supplied With oppqsiteiy directedsecnring arm '20 see "Fig. 3 whereby it ma te. utiliiedtc retain certain of -the eater "niernbers men elevated p b'sit icn at "certain times. 7 V

Eachjjdint 14c fnrtl1er" arriesfan inwardly directedsleevefll'(slee FigMt)- that receives onejendt one of the supporting "rods 22' and23, the inner ends of 'the'la'tter being" connected by still another joint "or connecting member '24 such asv shownin detail inFi'g. 6. Thejoi'nt 24 carries dciw 'nivardly directed sleeves, 25,: fer'fcennectidn with the upper ends of sei 'rqds Whtise T lower ends are afiiiie 'd t6 the franie'lO' in the usual manner," and"thisjOint'further carries an upwardly" directed sleeve 27 ,for receiving the lower end bf "a rod 28 "similar "to "the "rod" 19 above referred. to. The rod 28 is providediwithop" pbsi't ly directed securing farms 29', similar to the arms 20, before mentioned, whereby it may also co-act with the rod 19 in retain ing the cover members in an elevated position. The joint 24 further carries downwardly directed sleeves 30 which receive'the upper ends of simple stay rods 31 and 32,

the lower" ends of the latterbeingconnected. with the end portions of the frame 10. in a suitable manner, as shown in Fig. 3.

I now provide the end rods 16 and 17 with inwardly directed supporting ledges 33' and 34 while the side members of the frame 10 gcarry like supporting ledges 35 and 36 in orderto adequately support the several cover sections in the manner subsequently appearlhroughout their longitudinal extent, the side-members of the frame 10 are provided with spaced openings 37 (see Fig 8') adjacent which are arranged paired bearings 38 to receive pintles 89. Cams 40 are mount-,

ed'to be movable with respect tolthe said pintles and operate in the respective openings 37, each cam 40 being provided with a suitably directed handle 41, whereby they. may be conveniently manipulated. In other words, when the cams are in;the position shown in dotted linesin Fig. .8 the frame 10 may be quickly and easily arranged in'position on'the ,respectivecar body or removed therefrom, as the case may be; jHowev'er, upon moving the cams into the position shown in full lines in the said figure the same will be brought into binding engagement with the sides of the car body thereby securely locking the same against removal and providing for the stability of the device during movement of the rollingstock. This construction also provides for the secure detainment of the several parts of the device in position during movement of the car so as to efiectually prevent rattling and the consequent premature breaking of the elements.

The cover members of the device preferably consist of a series'of spaced'carrying members 42 having their inner ends curved asat 43 to embrace the carrying rods 22 and l 23 above referred to, while their outer ends are connected through the instrumentality of a series of l nks or connecting portions 4C4 in conjunction with elbows" or' other joints 45. The members-42 may be covered with a section of reticulated fabric, such for instanceas mesh wire or the like, such as shown at 4:6 whereby they'will adequately guard against theft of the contents of the car yet at the same time-permit a free cir-' culation of air and a direct view of the con- 35 respectively in the manner as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 sothat when in such position the hasp 51 thereof may be locked to the frame 10, as shown at 52. On the otherhand when in an elevated position the ring 53 of the said cover members may be engaged with any of the securing arms 20 or 29 such as shown in Fig. 3 whereby they will be securely held against accidental dislodgment. When in an elevated position the. covers will permitof the loading or unloading of the car, in the usual manner,

From'the foregoing it will be recognized that I haveprovided a device of the nature in question that is readily applicableto conventional forms ofrailway cars, one that ob-" viates impeding either the load ng or unloading of the car when in place, and finally one that may be manufactured at a comparatively low cost. In view offthe fact that theadvantages and novel features of my 'invention appear to be apparent from the foregoing it is believed that 'further details of the description is unnecessary.

In reducing my invention to-prac'ticeffind that theform referred to herein as the most practical and preferred e'inbodimentis the most efficient; but realizing thatcertain.

conditions will necessarily vary in concurrence with the adoption of my device, I

desire Q to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in the details of construction and in theproportion of parts may be re sorted to when required without sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

7 Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: p

1 In a safety cover for gondola cars, a frame'devised to be removably attached to the car body, a supporting structure carried by isaid frame, and a series of'independently' movable cover members associated with said supporting structure, as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a safety cover for-gondola cars, a

frame devisedto be removably attachedltothe' car body, means to lock said frame in place, a supporting structure carried by said frame, a" series of independently movable cover members carried by said supportingstructure, and means to lock said cover member rigidly to said frame, as and for the purpose specified. I

3. In a safety device for gondola cars, a

frame associated withthe car, means to lock said frame in position, a supporting structure carried by said frame, a series of inde pendently movable cover members associated with said frame, means for holding said cover member in open position againstthe tendency of gravity to close them, and means to lock said cover member ina closed posi-' tion, as and for the purpose specified.

a, Ina' safety cover for gondola cars, the combination with a car body of a'frame to be associated" "therewith, means to secure said frame to said car body, a supporting structure rigidly mounted on said frame, a series of independently movable cover-members associated with said supporting structure, means. for holding? all-of said cover members elevated in open position against the tendency of gravity to, close them, and means to lock said'eover, members ri'giid with respect to said frame and'said supporting tream-r as and for the purp se specifie 5. In a" safety cover for'gondola cars, the combination with a car body, of a frame associated with said carbody,means to secure said frame to said car body, supporting rods eX- tending longitudinally of and in spaced relation to said car body above the center of the latter, means on said frame to support said rods, a series of independently movable cover sections movably mounted on said rods and adapted to open and close, and means for locking said cover sections in closed position, as and for the purpose specified.

6. In a safety cover for gondola cars, the combination with a car body, of a frame to be associated therewith, means to secure said frame in position, a supporting rod arranged centrally of and extending in spaced relation to said car body, a series of independently movable cover members carried by said rod, and means to hold said cover members in an open position against the tendency of gravity to close the same, as and for the purpose specified.

7. In a safety cover for gondola cars, the combination with a car body, of a frame to be associated therewith, means to secure said frame in place, supporting rods carried by and extending longitudinally of said frame in spaced relation to said car body and above the longitudinal center of the latter, a plurality of independently movable cover sections mounted on said rod, oppositely proj ecting securing arms supported by said frame, means carried by said cover members to engage with said securing arms, whereby said cover members may be held in an open position, and means to lock said cover members in a closed position, as and for the purpose specified.

8. In a safety cover for railway rolling stock, the combination with an open top body, of a frame thereon, means to secure said frame in position on said body, supporting rods extending longitudinally of said body and arranged in spaced relation thereabove, means carried by said frame to support said rods, a series of independently movable cover sections mounted on said rods, supporting means associated with the aforesaid rods, oppositely projecting securing arms on said supporting means, rings on said cover members to engage with said securing armswhereby said *cover members will'be maintained in an elevated position, and means tolock said covermembers in aclosed position, as and for the purposespecified.

' 9. In a safety cover for gondoI'acars, the combination with a car body, of'a frame associated therewith, means to secure said framein placexon said body, rods connected respectively to the ends of said frame and extelnd-ingirpwardf,other rod-s connected to the upper ends of'said mentioned rods, brace 'r'neans for said first mentioned rods, me s con e t ng th nner en f $116,580:

ml, said" rods, brace means for said last mentioned connecting means, a serles of independently movable cover members supported by the second said rods, and means to lock said cover members in a closed position, as and for the purpose specified.

10. Inasafety cover for gondola cars, the combination with an open top car body, of a frame associated therewith, means to secure said frame in place, rods afiixed to the ends of said frame, other rods connected with said first mentioned rods and extending substantially at right angles with respect thereto, brace means for said first mentioned rods, means connecting the inner ends of said last mentioned rods, brace means for said last mentioned connecting means, a series of independently movable cover members carried by said last mentioned rods, means to hold said cover members elevated in an open position, .and means for securing said cover members when in a closed position, as and for the purpose specified.

11. In a safety cover for gondola cars, the combination with a car body of a frame associated therewith, means to lock said frame in position on said car body, a substantially vertical rod connected to one end portion of said frame and extending upwardly with respect thereto, a joint at the upper end of said rod, other rods connecting said joint and the side portions of said frame, a supporting rod having one end connected with said joint and extending substantially at right angles with respect to said first mentioned rod, a joint connected to the inner end of said supporting rod, other rods connecting said last mentioned joint to opposite sides of said frame, other rods connecting said last mentioned joint with the end of said frame opposite to the first said end, a plurality of independently movable cover members carried by said supporting rod, means to retain said cover members in an open position, and means to lock said cover members in a closed position, as and for the purpose specified.

12. In a safety cover for gondola cars, the combination with a car body of a frame to be associated therewith, means on the car body to support said frame, means to lock said frame in position on its supporting means, rods affixed to the end ortions of said frame and extending upwar 1y With respect thereto,.joints at the upper ends of said rods, inclined rods connecting said joints With the sides of said frame supporting rods each having their ends affixed to said oints respectively, brace V rods connecting said j ointsrespectively with the side portlons of said frame, stay rods connecting one of said joints with the ends of said frame, a series of independently movable cover members mounted on said supporting rods, means carried by said inclined rods for supporting sald cover members when in a Closed positlon, and means to hold SaIdCOVBI members 1 in open position, as and for the purpose spec fied.

SARAH E. COWEN? LILLIAN A. MATTHEWS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner 'of Patents,

' Washingto1i,D-'G. 

